Megha Subramanian (Toronto)
Aunty fulfilled my dream of having an Arangetram and just being with dance. Through dance I learnt to pray and build relationships with so many gods, explore my emotions and feel the soul. I am so grateful that the universe chose her to be my medium for building a relationship with the vast ocean of dance, music and rhythm.
Beyond the skills I learnt from her, I have observed her fortitude, her dedication and surrender, when things weren’t going in a way that would have been convenient for her. She continued to compose even when she wasn’t sure of a roof over head. There was worry, but also immense faith that things would work out for her. I am still in awe of that surrender but also acknowledge the stress that she might have faced in those challenging times.
As a teacher, I think she was the most generous in sharing her knowledge and her compositions with all of us in the form of books and recordings. And I think that she has set an example as to how we can all be generous as practitioners of dance.
I am eternally grateful for all our conversations, the birthday celebrations, the events, the weddings and the fact that she has given me this wonderful community of fellow artists who I can rely on!
My relationship with dance today:
I am a multi-disciplinary storyteller working parallelly in dance, TV/Film, Theatre and writing. I am also an educator in all these media, along with being a Yoga teacher, Reiki Master and a Vipassana meditator. Due to all these varied, yet unified influences, as a dancer I find myself questioning tradition which does not align with my understanding of spirituality and change it, allowing for contemporary themes and perspectives.
As an artist, I am interested in the spiritual experience of the body as I dance and am curious to see what lies beyond performance and technique. I am constantly experiencing ‘Advaita’ as I dance and even live; and I am trying to find a way to translate that sense of ‘unified’ being to the audiences, without it being performative. I am hopeful that I shall chance upon it, very soon!
As an educator, my inspiration is to enable the mindset of ‘independent learning’ and help create a generation of people who are self-reliant, confident and spiritually resilient. Beyond creating content, conducting sessions and workshops, I am also an artist-mentor with the TDSB (Toronto District School Board), where I learn so much by engaging with diverse learners!
